MESOZOIC—DINOS! VOLUME 9, ISSUE 8, APRIL 2020 THIS MONTH DINOSAURS! • Dinosaurs ○ What is a Dinosaur? page 2 DINOSAURS! When people think paleontology, ○ Bird / Lizard Hip? page 5 they think of scientists ○ Size Activity 1 page 10 working in the hot sun of ○ Size Activity 2 page 13 Colorado National ○ Size Activity 3 page 43 Monument or the Badlands ○ Diet page 46 of South Dakota and ○ Trackways page 53 Wyoming finding enormous, ○ Colorado Fossils and fierce, and long-gone Dinosaurs page 66 dinosaurs. POWER WORDS Dinosaurs safely evoke • articulated: fossil terror. Better than any bones arranged in scary movie, these were Articulated skeleton of the Tyrannosaurus rex proper order actually living breathing • endothermic: an beasts! from the American Museum of Natural History organism produces body heat through What was the biggest dinosaur? be reviewing the information metabolism What was the smallest about dinosaurs, but there is an • metabolism: chemical dinosaur? What color were interview with him at the end of processes that occur they? Did they live in herds? this issue. Meeting him, you will within a living organism What can their skeletons tell us? know instantly that he loves his in order to maintain life What evidence is there so that job! It doesn’t matter if you we can understand more about become an electrician, auto CAREER CONNECTION how these animals lived. Are mechanic, dancer, computer • Meet Dr. Holtz, any still alive today? programmer, author, or Dinosaur paleontologist, I truly hope that Paleontologist! page 73 To help us really understand you have tremendous job more about dinosaurs, we have satisfaction, like Dr. Holtz! the famous dinosaur paleontologist, Dr. Holtz helping So, grab your shovels as we Dig with this issue. He will not only into Dinosaurs! COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY EXTENSION 4-H PROGRAMS ARE AVAILABLE TO ALL WITHOUT DISCRIMINATION DINOSAURS! — What Is a Dinosaur? 2 Dinosaurs, Ichthyosaurs, Stegosaurus at American POWER WORDS Pterosaurs are all big reptilian Museum of Natural History • acetabulum: the animals of the Mesozoic. What socket of the hipbone, are the characteristics that into which the head of make dinosaurs distinct from the the femur fits others? • characteristics: a feature belonging In Paleontology 5: Speciation, typically to a thing and activities focused on serving to identify it characteristics of organisms, • hierarchy: organization and how scientists use those to in which groups are separate organisms into a ranked one above the hierarchy (Domain, Kingdom, other according to Phylum, Order, Class, Family, Ichthyosaur at American status Genus, species). Scientists use Museum of Natural History • perforate acetabulum: the characteristics of the (note: she was giving live birth!) dinosauria group organisms that are new or the (dinosaurs and birds) same as the ancestor is defined by a characteristics to separate perforate acetabulum, organisms into different species. which can be thought of as a "hip-socket" Directions: • speciation: the • What do you think are the Pterosaur Pterodactylus kochi formation of new and characteristics of dinosaurs? found in Germany distinct species in the Record your answers. course of change • Examine the skeletal through time drawings of the Tyrannosaurus rex (Sue at the Field Museum in Chicago) and Prestosuchus Perforate acetabulum chiniquensis (at the (the hole in the hip where American Museum of Natural the ball of the upper leg History in New York City) on bone (femur) sits) allows pages 3-4. Compare the for upright stance. dinosaur and non-dinosaur to find differences between the ball of the upper leg two. Circle what you see is attaches so the different. dinosaur can stand • Characteristics for a dinosaur upright include: • That’s it! That is what ○ Number of fingers and defines a dinosaur from a toes (hand had the fourth non-dinosaur! finger—ring finger and fifth finger—pinkie finger reduced, and the foot had MATERIALS three toes) • Print pages 3-4 ○ number of vertebrae (3 or • Paper more) attaching to the hip • Pencil bones • computer with internet access ○ hole in the hip socket • printer (acetabulum) where the DINOSAURS! — What Is a Dinosaur? 3 Above: Tyrannosaurus rex Sue, Field Museum Chicago, IL, a dinosaur Below: Prestosuchus chiniquensis, American Museum of Natural History NYC NY, a suchian reptile DINOSAURS! — What Is a Dinosaur? 4 0 1m Above: Tyrannosaurus rex Sue, sketch of a dinosaur Below: Prestosuchus chiniquensis, sketch of a suchian reptile DINOSAURS! — Bird or Lizard Hip 5 The proto-dinosaurs (ancestors, You will generate a list of POWER WORDS or dinosaur-like animals) were ornithischian and saurischian • bipedal: an animal bipedal (walking on two legs). dinosaurs, and collect some of using only two legs for With lots of time and mutations their data. Each table has an walking; bi = two, ped = that were favorable, dinosaurs example to follow. foot split into two major groups: bird- • clade: group of hipped (Order Ornithischia) Directions: organisms descended dinosaurs and lizard-hipped • Use only scientifically from a common (Order Saurischia) dinosaurs. supported information about ancestor In the first paleontology lesson, dinosaurs. There is a lot • mass: the quantity of there was an activity on these misinformation, so be matter which a body crazy science names, and what careful. Verify that you have contains—how much they really mean. ornith = bird, found sources from matter pulled down by saur = lizard, and ischia = universities or museums. gravity is weight ischium, one of Check the author, and verify • proto: original, primitive the three bones that person is an authority. • type specimen: the of the hip (ilium, • Different dinosaur Families specimen, or each of a ischium, and (or Clades) are identified in set of specimens, on sacrum). the table. Search on the which the description The ischium dinosaur Family, verify the and name of a new (depicted or source you use, and read species is based about the Family (or Clade). Search for the Family or Clade’s “type specimen” and complete the information on that species. If you cannot locate the type specimen you can select any species within the Family species, and if you can (or Clade). find it, the estimated • Record Class (Ornithischia mass (weight). or Saurischia). • Under notes, record • Copy and paste an image of location it was found. that dinosaur in a word • Cut out your pictures and document, and resize to place on your timeline in about 3” by 3”. Identify the the correct time range. dinosaur. Identify if the dinosaur is • Record the time (or range of an ornithischian or circled in red directional arrows) time) that it lived. saurischian, and glue. points back towards the tail in • Record the length of this • Do you see any patterns? ornithischian like a bird’s ischium, but forwards, towards MATERIALS the arms in saurischian, like • computer with internet access (if you don’t have lizards. Note that the a computer or internet access, check out your ornithischian skull has a county library!) predentary bone identified in • print pages 6-9 (single or double-sided) green which is not present in the • color pencils saurischian skull. • pencil or pen • glue stick or tape On page 6, is that dinosaur an • your Phanerozoic Timeline ornithischian or saurischian dinosaur? DINOSAURS! — Bird or Lizard Hip 6 Dinosaurs and other reptiles, amphibians, birds, POWER WORDS and mammals all have the same basic structure • anatomy: bodily structure of humans, of their anatomy. Above is a labeled diagram of animals, and other living organisms dinosaur anatomy. Dinosaur Website (verify) Order Family (or Age Size Notes Species Ornithischia Clade) (type or specimen) Saurischia Allosauridae Alvarezsauridae DINOSAURS! DINOSAURS! Ankylosauridae Psittacosaurus https://www.nhm.ac.uk/ Ornithischia Ceratopsia (primitive 120-100 6 feet, 110 Herbivorous with a beak (no teeth). mongoliensis discover/dino-directory/ Parrot or Frilled) MYA pounds It could walk either on two or — psittacosaurus.html verified four feet. Found in China, BirdHip Lizard or Psittacosauridae Mongolia, and Russia Ceratopsia (Horned) Ceratosauridae Coelophysidae Coelurosauria 7 Dinosaur Website Order Family (or Age Size Notes Species Ornithischia Clade) (type or specimen) Saurischia Deinonychosauria Diplodocoidea DINOSAURS! DINOSAURS! Hadrosauridae Herrerasaurus https://www.nhm.ac.uk/ Saurischia Herrerasauridae 231.4 MYA 9—20 feet Discovered by Andean ischigualastensis discover/dino-directory/ long, 770 goatherd, Victorino Herrera, — herrerasaurus.html verified pounds found in San Juan, Argentina. BirdHip Lizard or One of the first dinosaurs. Iguanodontidae Macronaria Megalosauridae Ornithomimosauridae 8 Dinosaur Website Order Family (or Age Size Notes Species Ornithischia Clade) (type or specimen) Saurischia Parasaurolophus https://www.nhm.ac.uk/ Ornithischia Ornithopoda 76-74 MYA 33 feet, 3.9 Fossils found in Canada and the USA. walkeri discover/dino-directory/ tons Herbivorous dinosaur. parasaurolophus.html (verified) Oviraptoridae DINOSAURS! DINOSAURS! Pachycephalosauridae Scelidosaurus — Bird or Lizard BirdHip Lizard or Spinosauridae Stegosauridae Therizinosauridae Tyrannosauridae 9 DINOSAURS! — Size 10 The sauropod dinosaurs • Each image has the different POWER WORDS reached the upper hypothetical dimensions of the dinosaur. • hypothesis (plural limits of how big a terrestrial For example, Tyrannosaurus hypotheses): proposed animal can be. The largest rex is 12 feet high at the hips explanation made predator to